Help & Info

Airport spotting is fun.

I don't know about you, but I've always been fascinated by airports. They're magical places, always seeped in local history, always with an interesting story behind them. When I see an airport, especially an older airport that appears to be in decline (which sadly is so often the case nowadays), I can't help wondering about the people and airplanes that must have landed there over the years. I imagine some nervous student pilot in a ragged old plane straining to spot his destination at the end of one of his first solo cross country flights, and I know that feeling -- the mix of relief and satisfaction that comes from reaching your goal, finding the field, and landing for the first time at a strange new airport. Dropping down from the sky, landing and stepping out onto an airport is a completly different experience than arriving there by car or other means and always evokes a feeling that's unique and rewarding.

I always enjoy looking for airports as I'm out flying around. I probably spend too much time with my eyes scanning the ground, but my eye-brain system seems to have developed a pretty good sense for locking on to runways below, even when they are obscure and hard to spot. I enjoy the challenge, but I also like knowing I can find a runway most of the time.

Since I enjoy trying to spot and correctly identify airports, I figured others might too. So I started uploading photos of unidentified airports and challenging visitors to this site to see if they could identify them. It has proved a popular feature.

I post one photo each update - the frequency of updates depends on how much spare time I have. During flying season (May - October), I'll try to update the game every other week (we'll see about that!).

Good luck!


				How does it work? I post a photo of an unidentified Northwest airport periodically. If you can identify the airport, send email to namethatnwairport@yahoo.com. At the next update, I'll post the correct answer, and give credit to the first person who got it right. The only prize is the glory - but it'll help you sharpen your airport-spotting skills.

			Airport spotting is fun. I don't know about you, but I've always been fascinated by airports. They're magical places, always seeped in local history, always with an interesting story behind them. When I see an airport, especially an older airport that appears to be in decline (which sadly is so often the case nowadays), I can't help wondering about the people and airplanes that must have landed there over the years. I imagine some nervous student pilot in a ragged old plane straining to spot his destination at the end of one of his first solo cross country flights, and I know that feeling -- the mix of relief and satisfaction that comes from reaching your goal, finding the field, and landing for the first time at a strange new airport. Dropping down from the sky, landing and stepping out onto an airport is a completly different experience than arriving there by car or other means and always evokes a feeling that's unique and rewarding. I always enjoy looking for airports as I'm out flying around. I probably spend too much time with my eyes scanning the ground, but my eye-brain system seems to have developed a pretty good sense for locking on to runways below, even when they are obscure and hard to spot. I enjoy the challenge, but I also like knowing I can find a runway most of the time. Since I enjoy trying to spot and correctly identify airports, I figured others might too. So I started uploading photos of unidentified airports and challenging visitors to this site to see if they could identify them. It has proved a popular feature. I post one photo each update - the frequency of updates depends on how much spare time I have. During flying season (May - October), I'll try to update the game every other week (we'll see about that!). Good luck!